Photo= Fair Trade Commission

 

 

[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has launched a comprehensive investigation into allegations of unfair internal transactions involving MBK Partners, Homeplus, and Lotte Card. According to industry sources on the 25th, the FTC dispatched investigators to the headquarters of MBK, Homeplus, and Lotte Card to gather relevant materials and conduct on-site investigations.


The FTC is examining whether Lotte Card applied more favorable terms, such as higher limits on corporate credit cards, to Homeplus compared to other companies. There are suspicions that this could be a form of unfair support for an affiliated company. 

 

 

Additionally, the FTC is investigating whether Homeplus's annual dividend payments, which amount to approximately 1 trillion KRW and are characterized as interest payments on financial products, could be considered unfair internal transactions.


In 2015, MBK Partners acquired Homeplus for 7.2 trillion KRW, and Homeplus took out a 5 trillion KRW loan under its name. Of this loan amount, 700 billion KRW was raised through the issuance of redeemable convertible preferred shares (RCPS) by Homeplus.

 

 

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